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HOW  TO  PAINT 
PERMANENT  PICTURES 


By  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 

THE  CHEMISTRY  AND 
TECHNOLOGY  OF  PAINTS 

Second  Edition,  Revised  and  Enlarged 
X q|.  366  pages.  Illustrated.  $4.50 

MATERIALS  FOR 
PERMANENT  PAINTING 

A manual  for  manufacturers,  art  dealers, 
artists  and  collectors. 

5 X 7|.  208  pages.  Illustrated.  $2.50 

D.  VAN  NOSTRAND  COMPANY 


/ 


HOW  TO  PAINT 
PERMANENT  PICTURES 


BY 

MAXIMILIAN  TOCH 

PROFESSOR  OF  INDUSTRIAL  CHEMISTRY,  COOPER  UNION; 
MEMBER  OF  THE  FIRM  OF  TOCH  BROTHERS;  AUTHOR 
OF  CHEMISTRY  AND  TECHNOLOGY  OF  PAINTS; 
MATERIALS  FOR  PERMANENT  PAINTING, 

ETC.,  ETC. 


NEW  YORK 

D.  VAN  NOSTRAND  COMPANY 

Eight  Warren  Street 

1922 


Copyright,  1922 

By  D.  van  nostrand  COMPANY 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


PREFACE 


The  observant  visitor  to  the  great 
art  galleries  is  astonished  and  pained 
to  see  the  large  number  of  pictures 
of  the  highest  artistic  excellence  gradually 
being  ruined  on  account  of  decomposition  as 
shown  by  fading,  darkening,  cracking  and 
peeling  of  the  paint  films.  This  is  all  the 
more  deplorable  because  the  cause  of  the 
deterioration  is  well  known  and  pigments, 
vehicles,  canvas,  in  fact  all  the  materials 
needed  by  the  painter  to  make  absolutely 
permanent  paintings  are  equally  well  known 
and  require  only  intelligent  choice  and  use  by 
the  artist. 

The  author  has  attempted  to  give  this 
information  in  this  volume  which  is  intended 
to  be  a popular  common  sense  treatise  for  all 
artistic  painters  who  desire  to  produce  perma- 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


nent  pictures  which  might  otherwise  in  a few 
short  years  show  most  glaring  defects. 

The  author  believes  that  manufacturers  of 
artists’  material  should  be  compelled  by  law  to 
label  every  tube  of  paint  as  to  its  permanence 
and  chemical  composition  so  that  artists  could 
be  assured  that  they  were  getting  what  the 
label  indicated, 

I acknowledge  with  great  gratitude  the 
valuable  assistance  of  Prof.  Carel  F.  L.  DeWild 
in  reviewing  this  manuscript,  and  for  the 
excellent  suggestions  he  has  given  me. 


[6] 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Preface S 

Introduction 9 

The  Simple  Palette 21 

The  Complex  Palette 23 

Commercial  Painting 26 

Palette  Knives 29 

Bitumen 30 

Tempera  Colors 32 

Water  Colors 44 

Permanent  Foundations  for  Painting 51 

Preparation  of  Wood  as  a Foundation  for  Paintings  57 

Painting  on  Metal 61 

Oils  and  Mediums 63 

Varnishes 67 

Beeswax  and  Other  Waxes 74 

Summary 76 

Madder  Lake  and  Harrison  Red 81 

Lakes  to  Be  Avoided 83 

Painting  the  Next  Day 84 

True  Naples  Yellow 86 

New  Whites 89 

Amber  Varnish 91 

Bloom 93 

Repainting 96 

Restoration  and  Cleaning  of  Paintings 98 

Framing 103 


How  To 

Taint  Termanent  Tictures 


INTRODUCTION 

IT  is  astonishing  that,  in  these  days  of 
progress,  no  corresponding  advance  has 
been  made  in  practical  instruction  in  the 
composition  of  pigments,  mediums  and  all 
material  necessary  to  the  production  of  per- 
manent works  of  art,  whether  they  are  easel 
paintings,  or  water  colors  for  the  adornment  of 
the  home  or  public  places,  or  in  tempera  and 
fresco  for  decorations. 

There  is  not,  to  my  knowledge,  a regular 
course  of  lectures  on  this  subject  at  any  of  the 
Art  Schools  in  England,  Italy,  France  or 
America,  in  which  students  are  taught  what 
materials  to  use  and  what  to  avoid. 


[9] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


During  an  experience  of  more  than  thirty 
years  in  the  manufacture  of  pigments  and 
mediums  for  all  types  of  painting,  I have 
investigated  the  methods,  analyzed  the  material 
and  demonstrated  the  folly  of  most  of  the 
procedures  in  common  use  to-day,  and  feel  that 
there  is  a demand  for  a little  book  of  this  kind, 
which  painters  can  use,  and  from  which  art 
students  can  acquire  a sane  method  of  producing 
permanent  results. 

If  the  painter  once  knows,  either  mechani- 
cally or  unconsciously,  the  pigments  that  are 
absolutely  permanent,  and  the  principle  in- 
volved in  producing  paintings  which  will  not 
crack,  fade,  darken,  peel,  blister  or  decompose, 
his  or  her  mind  can  be  taken  up  completely 
with  the  artistic  effect  to  be  produced,  without 
thinking  for  a moment  of  either  the  mechani- 
cal or  the  scientific  side  of  the  question,  and 
without  his  or  her  artistic  feeling  being  dis- 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


turbed  during  the  process  of  painting.  It  is 
quite  natural  that  a man  in  my  position,  who 
has  met  many  painters  and  who  has  discoursed 
with  them  on  this  subject,  has  had  many  of 
them  confess  time  and  again  that  the 
practical  and  technical  side  of  painting  has 
always  disturbed  their  peace  of  mind  when- 
ever they  have  been  in  the  midst  of  serious 
work. 

And  so,  the  object  of  this  book  is  to  convey 
to  the  painter,  in  simple  language,  and  without 
going  into  any  abstruse  science  of  any  kind, 
the  reasons  why  certain  materials  should  be 
used  and  certain  materials  should  be  avoided. 
I wrote  a book  which  went  into  the  subject  of 
all  the  pigments  and  all  the  mediums  in  a more 
scientific  manner  * and  in  that  book  I gave 
what  is  regarded  as  the  simple  permanent 
palette.  But  it  is  obviously  essential  that  a 

* Materials  for  Permanent  Painting,  by  Maximilian 
Toch,  published  by  D.  Van  Nostrand  Company  (1911), 
New  York. 


[II] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


more  complete  and  practical  dissertation  on 
this  subject  will  be  of  benefit  to  those  who 
have  selected  artistic  painting  as  their  life  work. 
I have  heard,  time  and  again,  the  statement 
that  we  do  not  know  in  this  age  how  to  make 
the  materials  which  the  older  and  great  masters 
used.  It  has  been  dinned  in  my  ears  fre- 
quently that  our  materials  are  so  worthless 
that  uniform  and  permanent  results  cannot  be 
obtained.  Nothing  is  further  from  the  truth, 
and  all  one  has  to  do  is  to  see  the  enormous 
amount  of  permanent  painting  that  exists 
outside  of  the  artistic  field  to  realize  that  the 
science  of  paint  making  is  more  perfect 
to-day  than  it  ever  has  been. 

The  manufacturers  of  ordinary  house  paints 
in  the  United  States  all,  more  or  less,  guarantee, 
within  reasonable  limits,  that  the  paints  which 
are  applied  to  the  exterior  of  buildings  will 
last  five  years.  I have  a case  in  mind  where 


[12] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


four  huge  smokestacks  were  painted,  near  the 
seashore,  and  at  the  end  of  ten  years  the  paint 
was  still  in  perfectly  good  condition.  I ask 
anyone  who  reads  this,  and  who  is  an  artistic 
painter,  how  long  does  he  or  she  think  an 
artistic  painting  would  stand,  exposed  to  the 
sea  air,  to  the  sun,  rain,  frost  and  winds?  The 
chances  are  that  no  artistic  painting,  executed 
with  the  same  thickness  of  coating  as  structural 
paint,  would  last  three  months.  This  is  fair 
evidence  of  the  fact'  that  structural  paint,  which 
is  really  simple  paint,  contains  the  inherent 
quality  of  permanence,  for  reasons  which  I will 
explain  later.  Take  the  case  of  entrance  doors 
in  France,  England  and  the  United  States, 
which  are  painted  and  varnished  and  exposed 
to  the  elements,  and  see  how  perfectly  these 
stand  for  several  years.  It  is  on  this  principle 
that  artistic  painting  must  be  based  for  absolute 
permanence,  for  artistic  painting  is  never 


[13] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


subjected  to  the  elements  and  is  never  subjected 
to  the  extremes  of  temperature  which  menace 
the  longevity  of  house  or  automobile  painting. 
In  fact,  there  is  no  reason  why  a painting  on  the 
interior  of  any  building,  or  suitably  framed  or 
covered  in  any  gallery,  with  reasonable  care 
should  not  last  for  an  unlimited  time.  I have 
seen  the  fresco  decorations  in  Italy,  which 
are  as  good  to-day,  so  far  as  I know,  as  the 
day  they  were  applied.  Many  of  the  primi- 
tive Italian  paintings  are  simply  remarkable 
for  their  permanence,  even  though  the  wooden 
panels  on  which  they  were  painted  are  worm- 
eaten  and  rotted  3 and  I have  seen  any  number 
of  paintings  executed  within  my  time  by 
prominent  painters  that  have  cracked,  faded 
and  deteriorated  because  wrong  materials  were 
applied  and  insufficient  care  was  exercised  in 
the  application  and  proper  sequence  of  the 
pigments  and  mediums  employed. 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


There  are  not  more  than  fifteen  pigments 
necessary  for  the  painting  of  a work  of  artj 
and,  out  of  these  fifteen,  nine  or  ten  are  suffi- 
cient for  every  purpose.  To  show  the  folly 
of  so  many  colors,  you  can  pick  up  any  cata- 
logue and  find  the  following  Green  Pigments: 

Chrome  Green,  Nos.  i,  2,  and3,  which  means 
Light,  Medium  and  Dark. 

Cinnabar  Green,  Pale  and  Light. 

Olive  Green,  Medium  and  Deep. 

Emerald  Green. 

Prussian  Green. 

Malachite  Green. 

Oxide  of  Chromium. 

Oxide  of  Chromium,  Transparent. 

Virdian  Green. 

Cobalt  Green. 

Emeraude  Green. 

Emerald  Oxide  of  Chromium. 

Ultramarine  Green. 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


French  Veronese  Green, 

Green  Lake. 

Permanent  Green,  Light,  Medium  and 
Deep. 

Zinnober  Green,  Light,  Medium  and  Deep. 

Alizarin  Green. 

Paris  Green, 

Sap  Green, 

Venetian  Green. 

Copper  Green. 

One  German  manufacturer  of  considerable 
reputation  mentions  seventy-nine  varieties  of 
Green  j one  hundred  and  twenty-three  vari- 
eties of  Yellow  j one  hundred  and  seventy- 
nine  of  Redj  seventy-five  of  Brown  5 seventy- 
nine  of  Bluej  thirty-two  of  Black  and  twelve 
of  White.  There  is  absolutely  no  license  for 
the  manufacture  of  such  an  enormous  variety 
of  pigments,  when,  at  most  a dozen  will  do. 


[16] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


All  in  all,  one  German  catalogue  contains 
five  hundred  and  seventy-nine  varieties 
of  colors. 

In  addition  to  these,  there  are  probably  a 
number  of  others  that  are  sold  under  pro- 
prietary names,  and  I ask  any  painter  who  has 
the  slightest  skill,  whether  it  is  necessary  to 
have  more  than  one  or  two  Greens  to  produce 
any  and  every  shade  that  he  may  desire.  If 
he  is  a painter  of  any  skill,  there  is  no  need  for 
him  to  have  all  of  these  Greens,  some  of  which 
are  good  — most  of  which  are  fugitive.  In 
addition  to  the  one  or  two  Greens  which  he  may 
have  on  his  palette,  various  mixtures  of  Yellow 
and  Blue  give  various  tones  and  shades  of 
Green.  I have  singled  out  Green  as  an  ex- 
ample of  the  multiplicity  of  colors  that  exists. 

The  same  repetition  and  duplication  of  pig- 
ments will  be  found  under  the  Yellows,  Reds, 
Blues  and  Blacks. 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


As  far  as  Whites  are  concerned,  there  are 
a large  number  of  proprietary  Whites  j and,  in 
addition,  there  are  Silver  White,  Zinc  White, 
Flake  White,  White  Lead,  Permanent  White, 
&c.j  whereas,  the  only  two  necessary  on  the 
painter’s  palette  are  Zinc  White  and  Flake 
White  (White  Lead),  and  perhaps,  occasion- 
ally, Permanent  White  (Blanc  Fixe). 

The  more  colors  that  are  presented  to  the 
painter,  the  more  embarrassed  he  will  become 
as  to  which  he  really  ought  to  use.  Painters 
make  the  one  serious  mistake  of  attempting  to 
get  immediate  results.  It  was  told  of  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds  that  he  would  not  use  perma- 
nent Vermilion  in  order  to  obtain  flesh  tints  j 
for,  he  said  he  wanted  certain  warm  tones  pro- 
duced by  mixtures  of  Lakes  and  other  pigments, 
so  that  when  his  pictures  were  finished  they 
would  be  pleasing  to  him.  The  results  showed 
that  even  during  his  lifetime  they  were  dis- 


[i8] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


pleasing  to  his  patrons,  and  particularly  to  him, 
but  yet  he  would  not  learn  the  lesson  that  the 
multiplicity  of  the  application  of  pigments 
involved. 

It  is  very  unfortunate  that  the  artificial  coal 
tar  dyes  are  so  beautifully  brilliant  and  give 
such  immediately  enticing  results.  It  is 
equally  unfortunate  that  when  these  artificial 
colors  are  exposed  to  our  civilized  atmosphere, 
which  contains  chemical  substance  due  to  the 
gases  of  cooking  and  of  manufacture,  many  of 
these  pigments  are  attacked.  They  tone  down, 
and  not  only  do  they  oftimes  lose  their  bril- 
liancy, but  frequently  they  lose  the  character- 
istic shades  for  which  they  were  employed. 
Then,  again,  sunlight,  as  we  all  know,  has  a 
deleterious  effect  on  all  of  the  organic  pig- 
ments, and  darkness  has  an  equally  deleterious 
effect  on  many  of  the  varnishes  and  all  the 
drying  oils.’ 


[19] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  must  have  glazed  his 
portraits  with  a great  variety  of  Lakes,  includ- 
ing Madderj  and,  where  he  used  vegetable 
Lakes  and  Carmine  as  a glaze,  the  faces  have 
assumed,  in  time,  a ghost-like  appearance. 


[20] 


THE  SIMPLE  PALETTE 


The  average  painter  can  get  along 
perfectly  with  ten  colors.  In  fact, 
the  skilful  artist  can  paint  practi- 
cally any  picture  he  wants  with  Red,  Yellow, 
Blue,  Black  and  White.  The  Red,  in  this 
instance,  would  be  a bright  iron  oxide,  sold 
under  the  name  of  Venetian  Red  or  Light 
Indian  Red.  The  Yellow  would  be  Medium 
Cadmium.  The  Blue  would  be  Ultramarine 
Blue.  The  Black  would  be  Lamp  Black. 
The  White  would  be  Zinc  White. 

But,  in  order  to  work  no  hardship  on  the 
painter,  ten  colors  are  all  that  are  needed  for 
the  average  work.  These  ten  can  be  inter- 
mixed, with  the  exception  of  Madder  Lake, 
f will  not  fade,  will  not  react  upon  each  other, 
nor  will  they  interfere  with  the  drying  of  each 
other.  Following  is  the  Palette  with  which  an 


[2l] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


average  painter  can  get  along  perfectly  and 
from  which  no  bad  results  are  ever  obtained: 
Lamp  Black. 

Zinc  White, 

Bright  Red  Iron  Oxide. 

Raw  Sienna  or  Yellow  Ochre, 

Burnt  Umber, 

Chromium  Oxide,  Opaque, 

Chromium  Oxide,  Transparent. 
Ultramarine  Blue,  or  Cobalt  Blue. 
Cadmium  Yellow. 

Madder  Lake. 

Madder  Lake  must  not  be  mixed  with  any 
pigment  containing  the  Yellow  Oxide  of  Iron, 
like  Ochre  or  Raw  Sienna.  It  is  wise,  if  it  can 
be  helped,  not  to  mix  it  with  any  other  pigment, 
but  to  use  it  as  a glazing  color.  Yet,  there  is 
no  harm  in  mixing  Madder  Lake  with  Lamp 
Black  or  bright  Red  Oxide  of  Iron,  or 
Cadmium  Yellow. 


[22] 


THE  COMPLEX  PALETTE 

The  following  are  colors  which  may 
be  mixed  with  each  other  without 
producing  any  deleterious  effect  or 
without  undergoing  any  change  j excepting 
Madder  Lake,  as  mentioned  on  the  previous 
page. 

Lamp  Black. 

Ivory  Black. 

Bone  Black. 

Graphite. 

Zinc  White. 

Permanent  White. 

Bright  Red  Oxide. 

Venetian  Red. 

Indian  Red. 

Burnt  Sienna. 

Raw  Sienna. 

— ^Yellow  Ochre. 


[23] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


Burnt  Umber. 

Roman  Ochre. 

French  Ochre. 

Oxford  Ochre. 

Chromium  Oxide,  Opaque. 

Chromium  Oxide,  Transparent. 

Ultramarine  Blue,  Natural  or  Artificial. 

Cobalt  Blue,  Natural  or  Artificial. 

H Cadmium  Yellow,  all  shades. 

English  Vermilion  j or  any  Vermilion  made 
of  Mercury. 

Madder  Lake  or  Alizarin  Lake. 

With  the  exception  of  the  Madder  and 
Alizarin  * Lakes,  all  the  other  colors  can  be 
mixed  with  each  other  without  any  danger  of 
decomposition,  and  Madder  Lake  can  be  mixed 
with  most  of  these  colors,  with  the  exception  of 
the  following: 

* Madder  Lake  and  Alizarin  Lake  are  the  same,  ex- 
cepting in  name. 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


Yellow  Ochre. 

Raw  Sienna. 

Transparent  Chromium  Oxide. 

For  diluting,  Madder  Lake,  Permanent 
White  (Blanc  Fixe)  may  be  used. 


1 


COMMERCIAL  PAINTING 


IF  you  take  up  any  art  dealer’s  catalogue, 
you  will  find  more  than  a hundred 
varieties  of  colors  j and,  among  them, 
the  vast  majority  should  not  be  used  by  the 
average  painter.  But,  there  is  a legitimate  use 
for  them  in  commercial  painting.  In  sketch- 
ing, for  advertising  purposes  or  for  book 
illustration,  brilliant  colors  are  permissible, 
where  half-tone  reproductions  are  desired  j 
and,  under  the  circumstances,  it  would  be  well 
for  the  painter  to  know  exactly  what  he  is 
using.  The  average  painter  does  not  know 
that  Cremnitz  White,  Flake  White  and  White 
Lead  are  identical  in  composition.  Nor,  does 
he  know  that  Silver  White  and  Zinc  White 
are  the  same.  In  many  of  the  States  of  the 
United  States,  laws  have  been  enacted  which 
compel  manufacturers  of  house  paints  to  label 


[26] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


each  container  as  to  its  true  composition.  If  a 
man  is  buying  a ready-mixed  paint  and  is 
supposed  to  be  getting  a mixture  of  Zinc 
Oxide,  White  Lead,  Linseed  Oil  and  Drier, 
the  label  must  so  state,  and  I have  advocated 
for  a long  time  that  artists’  tube  colors  ought 
to  be  labeled  as  to  their  true  composition. 

A color,  for  instance,  like  Zinnober  Green, 
which  is  purely  and  simply  a name  that  trades 
on  the  reputation  of  Zinnober  Red,*  should 
be  labeled  as  to  composition.  This  is  a mix- 
ture of  Prussian  Blue,  Chrome  Yellow  and 
White,  and  is  only  permanent  when  used  alone 
on  surfaces,  excepting  plaster  or  Portland 
Cement  concrete.  The  painter  would  then 
know  what  to  use  and  what  to  avoid.  It 
must  be  understood  that  I am  not  condemning 
the  manufacture  of  the  brilliant  aniline  tube 
colors  entirely,  because  there  is  some  legiti- 

* Zinnober  is  German  for  Vermilion. 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


mate  use  for  themj  but,  it  is  my  object  to 
attempt  to  educate  the  painter  in  a simple 
Palette,  so  that  he  may  be  sure  of  the  lasting 
qualities  of  his  art. 


[28] 


PALETTE  KNIVES 


PAINTERS  should  adopt  horn  palette 
knives  instead  of  steel  palette  knives. 
To  illustrate  the  reason  for  this  — if 
Naples  Yellow  be  taken  and  smoothed  out  with 
a steel  knife,  the  Naples  Yellow  turns  Brown 
and  Black  in  streaks,  because  there  is  a chemical 
action  between  the  steel  and  the  chemical  com- 
position of  the  Naples  Yellow.  This  is  true 
of  many  colors  j and  where  painters  are  inclined 
to  do  some  painting  with  knives  instead  of 
brushes,  it  is  preferable  to  use  a horn  or  hard 
rubber  knife,  because  no  decomposition  can 
possibly  take  place. 


BITUMEN 


Bitumen  and  its  homologues,  such  as 
Vandyke  Brown,  Cassel  Brown  and 
Asphaltum,  should,  under  no  circum- 
stances, be  used  by  any  artistic  painter.  If 
you  will  look  up  the  literature  of  photography 
before  the  days  of  the  daguerreotype,  photo- 
graphs were  taken  on  Bitumen,  because  it  was 
so  sensitive  to  the  light  that  within  a day  a nega- 
tive or  positive  imprint  could  be  obtained  by 
coating  a sheet  of  silver  or  glass  with  a Bitumen 
solution.  Where  the  light  acted  on  the  Bitu- 
men it  became  Black  and  insoluble,  and  where 
the  light  did  not  strike  it,  it  remained  Brown 
and  soluble.  More  damage  has  been  done  to 
artistic  painters  by  the  use  of  Bituminous  pig- 
ments than  by  any  other. 

Dupre  and  Jacque,  of  the  Barbizon  School, 
are  two  examples  af  painters  whose  work 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


deteriorated  through  the  use  of  Bitumen.  It 
may  be  true  that  a pleasing  effect  is  obtained 
when  Bitumen  is  employed  as  a glazing  ma- 
terial, but  in  time  the  picture  darkens,  and 
restoration  is  impossible  — first,  because  of  the 
solubility  of  certain  parts  of  the  Bitumen  that 
have  not  been  acted  upon  by  light  j and 
second,  because  any  attempt  to  remove  the  part 
that  has  turned  Black  destroys  the  original 
painting. 

Vandyke  Brown  and  Cassel  Brown  contain 
Bituminous  materials,  and  Asphaltum  is  the 
same  thing  as  Bitumen. 


TEMPERA  COLORS 

Tempera  Colors,  or  Tempera  Paint- 
ing, existed  long  before  Oil  Colors 
were  known,  and  Tempera  Medium 
was  used  five  thousand  years  ago  by  the 
Egyptians  in  their  painting.  Egyptian  coffins 
and  sarcophagi  were  painted  with  both  glue 
size  and  egg  tempera.  It  is  well  known  that 
the  Egyptians  manufactured  very  excellent 
grades  of  glue  either  by  boiling  parchment  or 
bones  and  hides  of  animals.  They  were  ex- 
cellent cabinet  makers  and  used  glue  very 
largely  in  joining  pieces  of  wood.  In  the  great 
museum  at  Cairo  there  are  to-day  many  samples 
of  furniture  glued  together  with  Egyptian 
glue,  which  are  still  in  excellent  condition.  It 
is,  however,  more  than  likely  that  little  or  no 
binder  was  used  when  the  pigments  were 
applied  on  the  various  tombs  or  temples,  even 


[32] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


to  those  built  about  1500  years  later,  like  the 
Temple  of  Karnak.  We  all  know  that  the 
climate  of  Egypt  is  exceedingly  dry  and  there- 
fore no  rain  can  wash  oflF  or  disintegrate  a cold 
water  paint  made  by  means  of  pigment 
and  glue.  The  Nile  clay  and  Nile  mud 
largely  used  in  building  are  slightly  alkaline 
and  in  many  respects  similar  to  the  adobe  mud 
in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona.  This  mud 
contains  a small  percentage  of  free  lime,  and 
any  earthy  substance  which  contains  free  lime 
will  in  time  act  like  a weak  cement  and  become 
firmly  bound.  It  is  therefore  my  opinion 
that  many  of  the  decorations  made  by  the 
Egyptians  were  made  without  any  binder 
other  than  the  lime  naturally  found  in  the  soil, 
and  in  a few  cases  the  glue  was  used.  I also 
judge,  from  the  nature  of  the  implements  used, 
that  the  pigments  were  rubbed  into  the  surface 
and  they  in  time  became  part  of  the  surface. 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


I do  not  refer  <:o  the  splendid  decorative 
work  on  the  wooden  sarcophagi  when  I say 
little  or  no  binder  was  used,  for  in  these  coffins 
and  on  the  outside  of  the  linen  wrappings 
there  are  some  really  wonderful  decorative 
paintings  in  which  binders  were  used.  The 
portraits  outside  of  the  mummy  wrappings  in 
the  second  century  were  done  with  wax  and 
resins  and  are  excellent  works  of  art. 

The  primitive  Italians  were  past-masters  at 
the  art  of  making  Tempera  Medium,  as 
evidenced  by  their  paintings  still  in  existence, 
a large  number  of  which  are  in  absolutely 
perfect  condition. 

Tempera  Medium,  generally  speaking,  is  a 
mixture  of  either  the  whole  egg  — or,  more 
correctly  speaking,  the  white  of  the  egg  — and 
a small  quantity  of  drying  oil  and  water. 
When  the  white  of  the  egg  is  beaten  up  with 
linseed  oil  or  poppy  oil,  it  forms  a very  weak 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


emulsion  or  soap,  from  a chemical  standpoint. 
This  is  really  nothing  more  or  less  than  a 
solution  of  flexible  adhesive,  or  glue.  Tem- 
pera Medium  is  also  made  from  Casein,  which 
is  an  adhesive  element  held  in  solution  in  milk. 
This  is  separated  from  the  milk,  chemically, 
and  dried,  dissolved  in  weak  ammonia  water, 
and  mixed  with  linseed  oil.  In  other  words. 
Tempera  Medium  is  a Water  Color  Medium, 
to  which  a little  drying  oil,  or  other  adhesive, 
has  been  added.  On  account  of  the  weakness 
of  the  binder  and  the  large  quantity  of  water 
contained,  which  entirely  evaporates,  the  color 
is  left  absolutely  flat  and  without  the  slightest 
sign  of  gloss,  unless  piled  on  too  thickly. 
After  this  has  been  allowed  to  dry  for  a few 
days,  it  may  be  varnished  with  a number  of 
varnishes,  which  I will  describe  later  on,  when 
it  has  all  the  appearance  of  an  oil  painting. 
There  are  such  a large  number  of  tempera 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


tube  colors  made  that  it  is  unnecessary  for  the 
artist  to  make  his  own.  Tempera  Colors  do 
not  change,  excepting,  of  course,  those  which 
are  inherently  defective,  and  it  is  unfortunate 
that  in  looking  over  the  list  of  Tempera  Colors 
for  sale.  Aniline  Lakes  should  be  manufactured 
and  sold  at  all.  Colors,  however,  which  really 
have  inherent  defects,  like  Flake  White, 
Chrome  Yellow  and  Paris  or  Emerald  Green 
(which  turns  Black  and  Brown  when  submitted 
to  sulphur  fumes  of  the  atmosphere)  remain 
absolutely  permanent  as  soon  as  they  are 
varnished.  Tempera  Medium  made  with  the 
whole  egg  contains  a very  large  percentage  of 
sulphur,  and  for  this  purpose  the  Tempera 
Medium,  when  pigments  like  Chrome  Yellow, 
Flake  White  and  Paris  Green  are  used,  should 
be  replaced  by  a Tempera  Medium  made  of 
White  of  Egg  and  Oil,  or  Casein  and  Am- 
monia. The  Ammonia,  it  must  be  understood. 


[36] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


plays  no  role,  since  it  is  only  used  as  a solvent 
for  the  Casein,  and  during  the  process  of 
cooking  or  boiling  is  driven  off,  so  that  a boiled 
Casein  emulsion  of  Linseed  Oil  has  no  effect 
on  any  color.  The  white  of  the  egg  contains 
a very  little  oil,  while  the  yolk  of  the  egg 
contains  as  high  as  twenty  per  cent,  of  fat  or 
oil,  thus  adding  to  the  flexibility  of  the 
medium.  But,  since  the  yolk  of  the  egg 
ranges  from  a light  Yellow  to  an  Orange,  it 
can  be  readily  seen  that  it  is  not  suitable  for  the 
manufacture  of  white  or  light  shades  of 
Tempera  Colors. 

Cennini  recommends,  alternately,  the  yolk 
and  the  white,  depending  upon  the  purpose, 
mixed  with  the  juice  of  figs.  This,  evidently, 
must  refer  to  the  sap  of  the  fig  tree  5 for,  it  is 
well  known  that  rubber  is  obtained  from  the 
fig  tree.  A slight  incision  in  any  fig  or  rubber 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


plant  gives  a milky  excrescence,  which  has 
considerable  adhesive  power,  and  which  con- 
tains about  half  rubber  and  half  water,  in  the 
form  of  an  emulsion.  The  yolk  of  the  egg 
was,  however,  mostly  used  for  fresco,  panel 
and  metal. 

Dry  white  of  egg  may  be  bought  as  a com- 
mercial article,  as  eggs  are  gathered  for  this 
purpose  in  large  quantities  in  China.  This 
may  be  dissolved  in  a weak  alkaline  solution, 
and  of  course  this  solution  must  be  made  in 
the  cold,  the  alkali,  if  it  be  ammonia,  being 
allowed  to  evaporate  at  room  temperature, 
even  after  the  oil  is  added.  Otherwise,  '^s 
anyone  knows,  the  boiling  of  any  white  of  egg 
solution,  coagulates  it,  leaving  hard  boiled 
white  of  egg  as  the  result.  The  ideal  Tempera 
solution  for  manufacturers  to  use  would, 
therefore,  be  Casein,  to  which  the  requisite 


[38] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


amount  of  oil  should  be  added  — or,  white  of 
egg  and  a drying  oil. 

Unless  a preservative  be  added  to  a Tempera 
emulsion,  it  will  rot  and  decompose  in  a very 
short  time.  For  this  purpose  there  are  many 
preservatives.  Oil  of  Cloves  has  been  used 
from  the  time  of  the  Egyptians.  In  fact, 
boiling  or  mixing  with  spices  has  been  regarded 
as  the  natural  disinfectant  and  preservative. 
Modern  chemistry,  however,  teaches  us  that 
materials  like  Benzoate  of  Soda,  Salicylic  Acid, 
Boric  Acid  and  Carbolic  Acid  are  the  best 
preservatives,  although  if  insufficient  amounts 
are  added,  the  Tube  Colors  will  decompose  in 
time.  If  Tempera  Colors  are  used  in  the 
place  of  Water  Colors  for  painting  on  paper, 
care  must  be  exercised  that  the  colors  are 
applied  very  thinly;  for,  if  the  slightest 
attempt  at  impasto  is  tried,  the  colors  will 
crack,  and  in  many  instances  fall  off  after  they 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


have  thoroughly  dried  out.  The  binder  in 
Tempera  Colors  is  really  so  weak  that  it  will 
not  support  by  gravity  a large  quantity  of  pig- 
ment. Therefore,  thin  painting  in  Tempera, 
especially  on  paper,  is  always  essential. 

The  Permanent  Palette  for  Tempera  Colors 
is  the  same  as  that  for  Oil  Colors.  If  no 
interaction  between  Tempera  Colors  takes  place 
while  they  are  in  the  process  of  drying,  there 
can  be  no  reaction  that  will  ever  take  place  after 
they  are  once  dried,  since  dry  chemicals  do  not 
react.  Hence,  after  Tempera  Colors  are 
varnished,  they  may  be  regarded,  if  permanent 
to  light,  to  be  permanent  forever.  There 
comes,  then,  the  question  which  has  been 
mooted  so  often  among  artistic  painters  — 
Why  varnish  a Tempera  painting  at  all,  since 
the  idea  is  to  produce  the  flat  effect? — to 
which  the  answer  must  be  made  that  a painting, 
no  matter  of  what  it  is  made,  unless  hermeti- 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


cally  sealed,  either  in  a glass  covered  frame  or 
with  varnish,  or  both,  is  bound  to  be  acted  upon 
by  our  modern  indoor  atmosphere,  and  var- 
nishes can  be  made,  and  are  made,  which  dry 
with  an  absolutely  Matte  finish,  so  that  these 
may  be  used  with  perfect  success  over  a 
Tempera  picture. 

There  are  several  types  of  Tempera  Colors 
on  the  market.  Strictly  speaking,  a Tempera 
Color  should  be  a mixture  of  Albumen,  made 
either  of  dried  or  fresh  white  of  eggs,  linseed 
oil  and  water  beaten  up  into  an  emulsion.  It  is 
not  generally  known  among  the  laity  that  all 
vegetable  oils,  whether  they  be  drying  or  non- 
drying, will  make  an  emulsion  with  lime  water 
or  any  other  alkali,  but  lime  water  is  probably 
the  best  emulsifying  agent  to  use.  This 
medium,  when  mixed  and  ground  with  dry 
colors,  forms  the  well-known  Tempera,  similar 
in  all  respects,  to  that  used  by  the  primitive 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


Italians.  One  has  only  to  see  the  remarkable 
permanence  of  the  early  Italian  Tempera 
painting  to  conclude  beyond  peradventure  that 
this  medium  must  be  regarded  as  one  of  the 
most  permanent  in  existence. 

There  are  further  types  of  Tempera  Colors 
on  the  market  which  contain  little  or  no  albu- 
minous material,  but  which  are  simply  mix- 
tures of  linseed  oil  and  water.  I am  refrain- 
ing from  discussing  scientifically  the  manufac- 
ture of  emulsion  paints,  because  that  has  been 
described  fully  and  at  great  length  in  another 
publication.*  So  that,  for  the  present,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  say  that  it  is  a tsimple  matter 
to  combine  oil  and  water  for  Tempera  painting. 
There  are  paints  on  the  market  sold  under  the 
name  of  Matte  Colors  and  Tempera  Colors, 
which  are  emulsions  of  linseed  oil  and  water 

* Chemistry  and  T echnology  of  Paints,  Maximilian 
Toch.  D.  Van  Nostrand  Company  (1916);  pp.  254-259. 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


only.  But,  these  have  neither  the  plasticity 
nor  the  smoothness  of  film,  after  they  are  dry, 
of  the  Tempera  Colors  which  contain  albumen. 
If  the  artistic  painter  will  use  only  those  pig- 
ments previously  described  which  are  perma- 
nent, whether  they  be  ground  in  Linseed  Oil 
or  whether  they  be  Tempera  Colors,  and  a 
medium  so  prepared  that  noxious  gases 
cannot  penetrate  through  either  side,  absolutely 
permanent  results  will  be  obtained. 


WATER  COLORS 


WATER  Colors  are  either  put  up  in 
little  cakes,  in  pans  or  in  tubes. 
In  every  instance,  they  are  ground 
very  finely  in  a watery  Medium  to  which  some 
glutinant  material  has  been  added,  such  as  Gum 
Arabic  j and,  in  the  case  of  tube  colors  and  pan 
colors.  Glycerine,  sugar  or  Glucose,  to 
prevent  them  from  hardening  or  drying  out 
entirely.  Water  Colors,  excepting  those  of  the 
Tempera  type,  which  contain  oil,  cannot  be 
varnished,  but  they  are  “fixed”  with  a so- 
lution of  gum  or  Casein,  so  that  they  do  not 
rub  off  or  drop  off  of  their  own  weight. 
There  are  entirely  too  many  unstable  Water 
Colors  made.  Some  manufacturers  carry  as 
many  as  one  hundred  and  forty  different  pig- 
ments in  cakes,  pans  and  tubes. 

A generation  ago  some  artists  fixed  th’eir 


[44] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


water  colors  by  means  of  Gum  Arabic.  In 
some  cases  the  gum  shriveled  up  and  became 
opaque.  Water  colors  should,  of  course,  never 
be  varnished,  but  may  be  fixed,  if  necessary 
with  a very  weak  casein  solution. 

The  perfect  and  simple  palette  of  Water 
Colors  is  practically  the  same  as  that  of  Oil 
Colors,  with  a few  additions,  as  follows; 

Zinc  White. 

Constant  White.* 

Lamp  Black. 

Yellow  Ochre. 

Raw  Sienna. 

Raw  Umber. 

Burnt  Sienna. 

Cadmium. 

* Constant  White  is  also  sold  under  the  name  of  Per- 
manent W hitey  or  Blanc  Fixe.  It  has  very  little  hiding 
power  when  wet,  but  dries  out  perfectly  opaque.  It  also 
possesses  very  little  staining  power,  by  which  is  meant 
that  a very  small  quantity  of  some  other  tint  will  change 
its  character  much  more  readily  than  it  will  Zinc  White. 


[45] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


Burnt  Umber. 

Indian  Red. 

Venetian  Red. 

Ultramarine  Blue. 

Cobalt  Blue. 

Chrome  Green,  Opaque. 

Chrome  Green,  Transparent  (Emerald 
Oxide  of  Chromium). 

Vermilion. 

Madder  Lake. 

A Water  Color  painting  must  be  hermeti- 
cally sealed  in  the  frame  and  it  must  not  be 
backed  up  with  a thin  Veneer  of  wood,  for  time 
and  again  these  wood  veneers  contain  knots 
which  are  very  resinous,  and  these  rosins,  in  a 
warm  room,  will  evaporate,  strike  through  and 
form  a yellow  spot  or  ring  on  the  painting 
itself.  The  best  way  to  frame  or  hermetically 
seal  a water  Color,  in  order  to  make  it  perma- 
nent, is  to  have  a glass  front  and  the  glass 


[46] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


should  be  fastened  around  the  inner  edge  of 
the  frame  by  means  of  a strip  of  adhesive  paper 
to  exclude  air  and  moisture.  The  Water  Color 
is  then  inserted  and  backed  up  with  a piece  of 
cardboard,  academy-board  or  thin  metal,  such 
as  Zinc,  Aluminum,  or  even  Sheet  Iron. 
When  this  has  been  throughly  fastened  by 
means  of  brads  or  nails,  the  entire  back  of  the 
picture  is  then  sealed  with  heavy  paper  which 
has  been  throughly  isoaked  on  both  sides  with 
a good  glue  or  starch  size.  In  this  manner  a 
Water  Color  will  remain  permanent.  A 
strip  of  wood,  a quarter  of  an  inch  thick, 
should  be  inserted  between  glass  and  drawing, 
so  as  to  prevent  the  paper  from  resting 
against  the  glass.  Water  Color  pigments  may 
be  mixed  with  each  other  without  danger  of 
reaction,  because,  once  they  are  dry,  no  further 
reaction  will  take  place,  as  dry  colors  do  not 
interact.  An  exception,  of  course,  must  be 


[47] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


made  in  the  case  of  Flake  White  and  Ultra- 
marine  Blue,  although  Flake  White  as  a Water 
Color  is  totally  unnecessary.  The  question  of 
the  hiding  power  of  Flake  White  as  compared 
with  other  colors,  will  be  mentioned  later. 
But,  a good  coating  of  fixative,  whether  it  be 
composed  of  a glue  size  or  a Casein  size,  or 
even  an  alcohol  varnish,  is  essential  in  the 
protection  of  Water  Colors  from  atmospheric 
effects. 

Colors  Which  Are  Absolutely  Permanent 
Which  Are  Not  Generally  Used  And  Which 
IVLay  Be  Mixed  With  Any  Other  Color  Without 
Decomfosition — Not  Mentioned  in  the  Simple 
Palette. 

Black  Lead, 

Graphite. 

Alumina. 

Blanc  Fixe.* 

* Permanent  W kite. 


[48] 


HOW  TO  FAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


Charcoal  Black. 

Charcoal  Gray. 

Mineral  Gray.* 

Ultramarine  Ash.f 
Ultramarine  Green. 

Ultramarin'e  Violet. 

Ultramarine  Red. 

Colors  Which  May  Be  Used  Alone  And 
Which  Are  Perfectly  Permanent  After  They 
Are  Varnished. 


Flake  White. 


Chrome 

Green  — Light, 

Medium 

and 

Dark.J 

Chrome 

Y ellow  — Light, 

Medium 

and 

Orange. 

Prussian  Blue. 

* Lafis  Lazuli. 

Lafis  Lazuli. 

J The  Chrome  Green  of  Commerce  is  a mixture  of 
Prussian  Blue  and  Chrome  Yellow. 


[49] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


Emerald  Green.* 

Antwerp  Blue. 

Naples  Yellow. 

Orpiment. 

Chrome  Red. 

Indian  Lake. 

Genuine  Alizarin  Lakes  of  all  shades. 
Burnt  Umber. 

Madder  Lakes  of  all  shades. 

Chromate  of  Barium. f 
Chromate  of  Zinc.$ 

Chromate  of  Strontium, § (sometimes  called 
ultramarine  yellow). 

* Paris  Green. 
f Barium  Yellow. 
f 7,inc  Yellow. 

§ Strontiu7?i  Yellow. 


PERMANENT  FOUNDATIONS 
FOR  PAINTING 

Many  a painting  decomposes,  cracks, 
chips  and  otherwise  fails,  because 
the  foundation  upon  which  it  is 
painted  is  unstable.  There  is  an  enduring 
feature  connected  with  oil  paintings  which  has 
been  described  elsewhere  * apd  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  go  into  this  subject  in  this  volume j 
but,  suffice  it  to  say,  that  canvas  is  the  least 
permanent  of  all  foundations,  and  there  is 
hardly  any  one  of  the  paintings  by  the  Old 
Masters,  or  even  any  of  the  paintings  in  ex- 
istence by  the  Modern  Masters  of  one  hundred 
years  ago,  that  has  not  been  relined  j that  is  to 
say,  the  canvas  has  been  mounted  on  other  can- 
vas in  order  to  give  it  stability  and  permanence. 
'^Materials  for  Permanent  Painting  (Toch)  pp.  48-52. 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


The  principal  foundations  that  have  been  used 
have  been  wood  of  various  types,  and  metal. 
Wood  really  is  as  permanent  as  anything  in 
existence,  excepting  that  eventually  it  becomes 
either  rotted,  through  excessive  moisture,  or  a 
certain  worm  invades  it  and  bores  irregular 
holes  through  it.  The  most  permanent  of  all 
foundations  is  metal.  The  Dutch  have 
painted  on  copper,  and  where  the  copper  has 
been  rather  smooth  the  paint  has  eventually 
curled  or  peeled.  Sheets  of  Zinc  or  sheets  of 
Aluminum  are  regarded  to-day  as  the  most 
permanent  foundations  for  all  paintings  up  to 
a certain  size,  but  beyond  a certain  size  canvas 
must  necessarily  be  used.  I have  always  ad- 
vocated the  painting  of  canvas  on  the  reverse 
side,  to  prevent  noxious  gases  from  working 
their  way  through  to  the  under  side  of  the 
painting,  and  the  painting  of  the  reverse  side 
of  canvas  is  not  as  simple  as  it  may  seem.  In 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


the  first  place,  if  a painting  is  to  be  protected 
by  painting  the  reverse  side  of  the  canvas, 
after  the  painting  has  been  completed,  unequal 
tension  takes  place  and  the  painting  buckles,  so 
it  is  necessary  under  all  circumstances  to  remove 
the  canvas  from  the  stretcher  and  re-stretch 
it.  Then  again.  Linseed  Oil  paint  must  not  be 
used  either  on  cotton  or  linen  direct.  Linseed 
Oil  is  acid,  and  eventually  rots  or  decomposes 
all  vegetable  fibre.  It  is  for  that  reason  that 
canvas  is  always  first  prepared  with  a glue 
solution,  which  is  neutral  and  prevents  the 
soaking  in  of  the  oil  paint,  so  that  if  the  reverse 
side  of  the  canvas  is  to  be  painted,  it  must  be 
either  coated  with  a glue  solution,  or,  what  is 
equally  good,  it  must  receive  a thin  coating  of 
Shellac  Varnish.  Glue  solutions  are  made  by 
using  a double  boiler,  such  as  carpenters  use, 
or  such  as  housewives  use  for  boiling  rice  or 
other  cereals.  A pound  of  glue  or  gelatine  is 


[53] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


soaked  overnight  in  a quart  of  cold  water. 
This  swells  the  glue  and  makes  it  ready  for 
boiling.  Then  it  is  placed  over  the  fire  in  a 
double  boiler  and  more  water  added,  until  it 
has  the  consistency  of  very  thin  cream.  After 
it  has  been  allowed  to  cool,  it  is  applied  to  the 
canvas.  Then,  after  that,  any  good  mixed  oil 
paint  may  be  applied.  I have,  however, 
always  recommended  a mixture  of  such  pig- 
ments which  shall  neither  dry  too  hard  nor  too 
soft  and  will  not  eventually  become  too 
brittle.  For  this  purpose,  the  following  pig- 
ments may  be  mixed  and  may  be  obtained  from 
any  reputable  dealer  in  house  paints: 

One  pound  of  Red  Lead  in  Oil. 

One  pound  of  Zinc  White  in  Oil. 

One  pound  of  Pure  White  Lead  in  Oil. 

mixed  with  one-half  pint  of  Turpentine,  to 
which  one-half  pint  of  raw  Linseed  Oil  is 


[54] 


HOW  TO  PAIHT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


added.  This  makes  a salmon-colored  ready 
mixed  paint  which  dries  slowly,  evenly  and  is 
very  impervious,  and  if  the  color  is  at  all 
objectionable  and  too  light.  Lamp  Black  may 
be  added  to  produce  a Chocolate  Brown.  The 
Lamp  Black  should  be  added  in  oil  without 
the  addition  of  any  further  varnish  or  drier. 
But  this  must,  of  course,  be  applied  over  the 
glue  size  heretofore  mentioned,  and  at  the  end 
of  a week  the  painting  can  be  restretched  and 
will  show  no  corrugations  or  buckling. 

In  spite  of  wood  being  a more  durable 
painting  material  than  canvas,  artists  prefer 
canvas,  simply  on  account  of  the  difference  in 
surface  j for,  the  twill  of  the  canvas  gives  the 
pigment  an  unevenness  which  causes  it  to  re- 
flect and  refract  light,  much  to  the  advantage 
of  the  painting. 

Gilbert  Stuart,  in  later  life,  painted  many 
portraits  on  panels  that  were  grooved  to  give 


[55] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


the  impression  of  canvas,  and  he  had  the  sur- 
face for  many  of  his  panels  prepared  in  such 
a way  as  to  imitate  the  weave  to  which  he  was 
most  accustomed. 


PREPARATION  OF  WOOD  AS  A 
FOUNDATION  FOR  PAINTINGS 

Mahogany  wood,  since  the  Twelfth 
Century,  has  been  a great  favorite 
with  painters,  but  an  Oak  panel  is 
just  as  good.  It  is  absolutely  necessary,  how- 
ever, to  reinforce  the  reverse  side  of  a wood 
panel,  either  by  means  of  a cradle  or  by  means 
of  cleats. 

Cleats  are  very  dangerous.  Pictures  split 
and  buckle  alongside  of  cleats,  and  when  such 
buckling  takes  place,  the  picture  ought  to  be 
taken  off  and  cradled. 

If  the  wood  panel  is  sufficiently  heavy,  these 
cleats  may  be  screwed  on,  but  at  all  events  they 
should  be  glued  on  with  a proper  glue,  such  as 
can  be  purchased  in  the  United  States  under  the 
name  of  LePage’s  Glue,  or  Russia  Cement  j 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


but,  in  any  event,  it  is  quite  important,  in  ad- 
dition to  gluing  these  strips,  to  fasten  them  by 
means  of  fine  wire  nails  which  may  go  through 
to  the  outer  surface,  and  then  be  cut  off  and 
sandpapered  to  a smooth  finish.  A very 
good  preparation  of  a wood  foundation  is  to 
fill  the  wood  first  with  what  is  known  as  wood 
filler.  This  is  a material  called  Silex,  or 
Silica,  mixed  in  a quick  drying  varnish.  It  is 
thinned  down  with  Spirits  of  Turpentine, 
applied  across  the  grain  of  the  wood  panel, 
and  after  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  it  is  rubbed 
off  lightly,  the  fine  grain  of  the  wood  becomes 
filled  up  with  this  Silica  or  wood  filler 3 and, 
after  twenty-four  or  forty-eight  hours,  the  sur- 
face is  then  rubbed  with  very  fine  sandpaper, 
which  makes  it  perfectly  smooth.  Then  a thin 
application  of  Shellac  Varnish  is  applied  3 and 
Shellac  Varnish  for  this  purpose  is  manu- 
factured by  taking  two  pounds  of  any  Orange 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


Shellac  to  three-quarters  o£  a gallon  of  De- 
natured Alcohol.  This  should  not  be  mixed 
in  a metal  container,  but  should  be  mixed  in  a 
stone  jar  or  glass  bottle.  In  a few  hours  it 
will  have  dissolved,  if  shaken  occasionally. 
A coat  of  this  is  applied  to  the  wood  after  the 
fill  has  become  thoroughly  dry.  Three  hours 
afterwards  it  should  again  be  lightly  sand- 
papered. After  this  another  coat  of  Shellac 
Varnish  is  applied,  both  to  the  front  and  the 
back  of  the  wood  panel.  Three  hours  after 
that,  it  can  again  be  lightly  sandpapered,  and 
then  it  is  ready  for  painting.  The  sandpaper 
is  essential  because  it  roughens  the  surface  and 
forms  a bond  between  the  pigment  and  the 
wood.  If  you  paint  on  a highly  polished  sur- 
face, whether  it  be  glass,  metal,  wood  or  canvas, 
there  is  very  little  bond  between  two  glossy 
coats,  and  the  chances  of  peeling  are  very  great  j 
but,  if  you  roughen  the  surface  upon  which  you 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


are  going  to  paint,  there  is  a contact  between  the 
paint  and  the  surface,  due  to  the  roughness 
just  mentioned. 

Shellac  used  in  priming  wood  is  essential,  in 
order  to  prevent  the  resinous  matter  from 
evaporating  into  the  painting.  But,  if  a paint- 
ing should  crack,  which  has  been  based  on 
Shellac,  and  a restorer  applied  alcohol,  it  is 
quite  obvious  that  the  painting  would  become 
badly  damaged. 


[6o] 


PAINTING  ON  METAL 


Any  metal  which  has  rigidity,  isuch  as 
Copper,  Zinc  and  Aluminum,  is  good 
to  paint  on  and  is  absolutely  perma- 
nent. Aluminum  is  the  lightest  of  all  the 
metals  and  not  very  expensive.  It  is  readily 
purchased  in  any  size  up  to  30"  x 36"  and  in 
any  reasonable  thickness.  The  bodies  of  nearly 
all  good  automobiles  are  made  of  Aluminum, 
and  when  the  surface  is  properly  prepared,  it 
holds  the  paint  perfectly  and  permanently. 
It  can  be  bought  with  a so-called  egg-shell 
finish,  but  it  is  always  advisable,  before  paint- 
ing, to  rub  it  very  thoroughly  with  coarse  sand- 
paper or  emery  cloth.  This  produces  very 
fine  ridges,  which  hold  the  paint,  and  that  is 
the  only  preparation  that  Aluminum  needs 
for  permanent  painting.  Copper,  Brass,  Tin- 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


Plate  and  Zinc  must  all  be  prepared  in  the 
same  manner  by  rubbing  them  very  thorough- 
ly with  coarse  sandpaper  or  emery  cloth,  and 
no  further  preparation  is  necessary. 


/ 


[62] 


OILS  AND  MEDIUMS 

There  are  on  sale  a very  large 
number  of  Mediums  for  use  in  oil 
painting,  some  of  which  are  essen- 
tial, but  most  of  which  are  unnecessary} 
and,  for  certain  purposes,  unreliable.  The 
materials  generally  on  sale  — and  this  is  not 
a complete  list  — are : 

Poppy  Oil. 

Linseed  Oil. 

Walnut  Oil. 

Nut  Oil. 

Pale  Drying  Oil. 

Dark  Drying  Oil. 

Spirits  of  Turpentine. 

Petroleum  Naphtha. 

Amber  Varnish. 

Copal  Varnish. 


[63] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


Japan  Oil  Size. 

Mastic  Varnish. 

Megilp  Varnish. 

Damar  Varnish. 

and  other  materials,  the  compositions  of  many 
of  which  are  kept  a secret  and  are  sold  under 
proprietary  names.  As  a matter  of  fact,  the 
painter  can  get  along  perfectly,  and  will  have 
permanent  results,  if  he  sticks  to  Raw  Linseed 
Oil,  Turpentine  and  one  Varnish,  either 
Mastic  or  Damar.  I do  not  mean  to  say  that 
a Medium  like  Copal  Varnish  mixed  with 
certain  colors  is  not  a good  Medium,  for  such 
a material  will  produce  enamel  paints  which 
will  have  a permanent  gloss,  but  when  you 
come  to  consider  that  the  Old  Masters  had 
only  from  seven  to  ten  pigments  ground  in  a 
drying  oil  like  Linseed  Oil,  and  the  most  of 
their  paintings  are  to-day  a complete  example  of 
permanence,  there  should  be  no  reason  why 


[64] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


the  mind  of  the  painter  should  be  clouded 
with  a multiplicity  of  materials  and  why  many 
materials  should  be  used  which  may  in  time 
prove  detrimental. 

Without  going  into  any  scientific  disser- 
tation on  the  subject,  if  you  take  a strong 
drier  and  mix  it  with  many  pigments  like 
Umber,  Zinc  and  the  Siennas,  you  will  have, 
apparently,  a perfectly  dry  picture  in  twelve 
hours,  but  you  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  dry- 
ing process,  once  started  with  these  powerful 
driers,  goes  on  sometimes  for  years,  until 
finally  the  paint  disintegrates,  because  too  much 
drier  has  been  used.  It  is,  of  course,  often- 
times essential  to  use  plenty  of  drier,  or  to  use 
Copal  Varnish  as  a Medium,  in  order  to  finish 
the  work  so  that  it  can  be  handled  with  safety 
for  illustrative  uses,  but  where  a painter  has  a 
commission  to  paint  a portrait,  it  is  far  wiser 
to  use  the  simple  palette  and  to  reduce  only 


[6sl 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


with  Turpentine  and  Raw  Linseed  Oil  and  let 
the  sun  and  air  dry  his  picture  slowly,  normally 
and  naturally. 


[66] 


VARNISHES 


NO  picture  should  be  varnished  before 
it  is  at  least  six  months  old,  for  I 
have  already  stated  that  the  process 
of  drying  with  Linseed  Oil  Colors  is  progres- 
sive, and  keeps  on  for  years,  and  if  a picture 
be  varnished  too  soon,  cracks  are  bound  to 
result.  Only  those  types  of  varnishes  should 
be  used  which  can  be  readily  removed  and  the 
three  types  that  can  be  readily  removed  are 
Sandarac,  Mastic  and  Damar. 

Sandarac  is  a varnish  which  dissolves  in 
Alcohol  and  dries  perfectly  within  three  hours. 

Mastic  is  a pale  gum  which  dissolves  only  in 
Turpentine  and  dries  hard  and  dust-free  over- 
night. 

Damar  is  similar  in  its  characteristics  to  Mas- 
tic, but  not  quite  as  hard. 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 

Pictures  with  a heavy  impasto,  and  parti- 
cularly those  in  which  the  slow  drying  pigments 
are  used,  should  not  be  varnished  inside  of  a 
year  — or,  preferably,  in  two  or  three  years. 
All  Linseed  Oil  and  Poppy  Oil  paints  dry  from 
the  surface  down  and  wrinkle  like  a dessicated 
apple.  If  a curved  needle  is  inserted  into  these 
wrinkles,  it  is  very  often  found  that  the  in- 
terior is  still  liquid  or  semi-liquid.  I have  found 
globules  of  graphite  and  lamp  black  mixed  with 
Linseed  Oil,  to  remain  soft  after  many  years. 
When  a picture  becomes  thoroughly  hard  and 
it  has  dried  completely,  the  film  becomes  as 
tough  as  a sheet  of  glue,  and  it  cannot  be  punc- 
tured. It  is  then  called  “ needle-proof.”  A 
clot  of  Raw  Sienna  in  a picture  by  Josef 
Israels  ten  years  old  was  not  yet  “ needle- 
proof.” 

It  would  therefore  appear  that  the  best  time 
to  varnish  a picture  is  after  it  has  hardened  up 


[68] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


uniformly  and  completely,  even  though  this 
takes  a year  or  two. 

Mastic  is  very  largely  used,  but  has  the  one 
great  defect  that  you  never  know  whether  it  is 
going  to  dry  with  a gloss  or  whether  it  is  going 
to  dry  flat,  and  sometimes  a picture  varnished 
with  Mastic  will  be  partially  glossy  and  partly 
matte.  To  overcome  this,  a small  amount, 
not  exceeding  iO%,  of  Lavender  Oil  or  Lin- 
seed Oil  may  be  added. 

On  a bright,  clear  day,  Damar  Varnish 
usually  dries  with  a gloss,  but  on  a damp  day, 
when  the  picture  is  moist,  Damar  will  also  dry 
flat. 

Sandarac  Varnish  may  be  very  easily  re- 
moved with  Alcohol,  and  both  Damar  and 
Mastic  may  be  easily  removed  with  Turpen- 
tine or  a mixture  of  Turpentine  and  Benzine 
(Petroleum  Naphtha). 

For  the  restoration  and  renovation  of  paint- 


[69] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


ings,  it  will  at  once  be  seen  that  a varnish  that 
can  be  easily  removed  is  by  far  preferable  to 
the  Copal  Oil  Varnishes,  and  Amber  Varnishes  f 
which  dry  with  a hard,  tough  insoluble  film, 
and  it  is  at  timies  impossible  to  remove  these  j 
and,  where  strong  solvents  or  much  attrition 
is  used,  it  sometimes  happens  that  the  surface 
glazing  or  delicate  tints  are  removed  at  the 
same  time. 

The  pigments  that  are  only  permanent  when 
used  alone  and  rem^ain  permanent  after  having 
been  varnished,  are: 

Flake  White. 

Chrome  Green.* 

Chrome  Yellow. 

Prussian  Blue. 

Emerald  Green. 

Naples  Yellow. 

* Chrome  Green  must  not  be  confounded  with  the 
Chromiinn  Greens^  but  is  a mixture  of  Chrome  Yellow 
and  Prussian  Blue. 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


Chrome  Red. 

Verdigris. 

Harrison  Red.* 

It  is  pertinent  to  say  a word  about  Flake 
White,  because  practically  all  of  the  Whites 
used  by  the  Flemish,  Dutch,  Italian  and 
English  Masters  was  Flake  White,  and 
there  is  no  white  pigment  that  is  equal  to  it 
in  what  is  known  as  hiding  power.  Two  coats 
of  Flake  White  thinly  applied  are  equal  to  four 
coats  of  Zinc  White  in  hiding  power,  so  it  is 
quite  appropriate  that  where  a painter  wants  a 
permanent  White,  which  shall  have  a solid 
body  and  hiding  power,  there  is  absolutely  no 
objection  to  using  Flake  White,  provided  it  be 
coated  over  with  Zinc  White  after  it  is  per- 
fectly dry.  Or,  if  Flake  White  can  be  kept 

* Harrison  Red  is  a coal  tar  color  similar  in  shade 
to  English  Vermilion,  but  ten  times  stronger,  and  is  best 
used  as  a glaze,  or  as  a solid  pigment  by  itself. 


HOW  TO  PAIHT  PERMAHEHT  PICTURES 


free  from  noxious  gases,  after  it  is  applied, 
and  then  cleaned  off  with  pure  Spirits  of 
Turpentine  and  varnished,  with  either  Mastic  or 
Damar,  it  is  even  permanent  against  noxious 
gases,  because  these  varnishes  prevent  gases 
from  attacking  Flake  White,  The  same  may  be 
said  of  Chrome  Green,  Prussian  Blue  and 
Chrome  Yellow,  which  are  all  likely  to  be 
affected  by  sulphur  gases,  and  should  these  turn 
Yellow  or  Brown,  they  can  be  cleaned  and  re- 
stored to  their  pristine  condition,  if  washed  with 
a weak  solution  of  soap  and  water  and  after- 
wards lightly  rubbed  with  ordinary  Peroxide 
of  Hydrogen.  The  effect  of  the  use  of  Per- 
oxide of  Hydrogen  and  soap  water  is  to  oxi- 
dize the  color  which  has  been  affected  by  sul- 
phur gases.  I am  not  giving  any  special 
formula  for  this  work,  because  each  case  must 
be  separately  treated,  and  thej  painter  must 
work  out  the  case  for  himself.  The  Chrome 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


Yellows  and  Chrome  Greens  are  exceedingly 
permanent  to  light  when  used  alone  and 
properly  varnished.  Prussian  Blue  has  so 
many  beautiful  characteristics  as  a pigment 
and  is  so  permanent  to  light  that  if  used  alone, 
or  even  when  used  with  Zinc  White  to  produce 
a sky  blue,  it  has  considerable  merit.  Gains- 
borough was  probably  the  first  great  painter  to 
use  Prussian  Blue,  and  I have  seen  some  of  his 
paintings  in  which  the  drapery  and  dresses  were 
a beautiful  green,  which  was  due  to  the  yellow- 
ing of  the  varnish,  which,  when  mingled  with 
the  Blue,  produced  Green  j and  I have  also 
seen  the  varnish  removed  and  then  the  Blue 
came  back  with  all  its  original  intensity. 


I 


BEESWAX  AND  OTHER  WAXES 

WAX  of  any  kind,  as  a painting 
medium,  should  not  be  used 
under  any  circumstances.  In 
order  to  produce  Matte  effects,  there  are  on 
sale  reliable  varnishes  which  dry  perfectly  flat 
and  which  contain  no  wax  of  any  kind,  but 
which  are  made  of  Copal,  Damar  or  Mastic, 
and  to  which  about  ten  per  cent,  of  a material 
known  as  Palmitate  of  Aluminum,  or  Stearate 
of  Aluminum,  has  been  added.  These  two 
materials  are  known  as  flatting  materials  and  do 
not  remelt  after  they  are  dissolved  in  Varnish 
I recall  a very  excellent  Dutch  painting  in 
which  beeswax  had  been  used  as  a Medium  and 
which  was  brought  over  to  America  and  placed 
in  the  house  of  a collector.  The  following 
Summer  was  one  of  the  hottest  Summers  which 


[74] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


New  York  had  ever  experienced,  and  on  re- 
opening the  house  in  the  Fall,  the  eyes  in  the 
portrait  of  this  picture  had  melted  and  run  down 
over  the  cheeks. 

One  often  hears  the  remark  that  the  Egyp- 
tian portraits  painted  in  the  First  and  Second 
Centuries  and  done  with  wax  are  still  as  perfect 
as  the  day  they  were  painted,  I have  examined 
some  of  these  paintings  and  find  that  they  were 
not  done  with  wax  at  all,  but  done  with  a hard 
resin  of  a high  melting  point. 

So  every  painter  who  wants  to  paint  perma- 
nent pictures  should  stick  strictly  to  simple  ve- 
hicles and  pigments  and  not  have  anything  to 
do  with  wax  whatever. 


SUMMARY 


A FEW  simple  rules,  together  with  the 
simple,  Palette  would  insure  paintings 
that  are  absolutely  permanent.  Haste 
in  finishing  a picture  often  produces  bad  results. 

It  is  said  of  the  great  French  artist  Henner  that 
he  often  had  as  many  as  forty  or  fifty  pictures 
in  his  studio  in  the  process  of  painting.  He  'b 
would  lay  in  the  foundation  and  then  place  the 
picture  face  to  the  wall  to  dry.  It  was  weeks 
before  he  got  back  to  the  first  picture  again, 
when  he  would  start  outlining  the  figures.  It 
was  weeks  again  before  he  came  back  to  the  be- 
ginning and  finished  his  pictures  — in  the 
meantime,  of  course,  each  succeeding  coat  hav- 
ing had  time  to  dry  through  and  through. 
And  this,  more  than  anything  else,  is  the  prin- 
cipal reason  why  his  paintings  are  in  such  per- 
fect condition  to-day.  I cite  him  as  a m^an  who 


[76] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


had  the  instinct  to  paint  with  simple  colors; 
and,  although  he  was  a prolific  user  of  Madder 
Lake,  he  always  used  it  as  a glaze  over  the  or- 
dinary ground.  Most  of  his  smaller  pictures 
were  painted  on  Academy-Board  or  Composi- 
tion-Board, and  I have  no  doubt  that  his  pic- 
tures will  retain  their  pristine  condition  for 
centuries. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  have  such  a great 
painter  as  Josef  Israels,  who  paid  little  or  no 
attention  to  the  materials  which  he  used,  with 
the  result  that  many  of  his  pictures  are  badly 
cracked  and  have  darkened  considerably  in  the 
shadows. 

Once  a painter  is  familiar  with  the  colors 
which  are  permanent,  he  or  she  can  proceed  un- 
consciously without  any  technical  interference 
and  produce  results  which  will  stay. 

There  is  a decided  inclination  at  the  present 
time  towards  Impasto  painting,  in  which 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


colors  are  piled  up  to  the  thickness  sometimes  of 
a centimeter,  and  a plastic  effect  is  sought  by 
this  means.  This  is  a dangerous  proceeding, 
excepting  in  the  hands  of  one  who  has  a dis- 
tinct knowledge  of  how  colors  dry.  Lamp 
Black  and  Graphite,  for  instance,  will  take 
many  years  to  dry  thoroughly  hard.  Zinc 
White,  Raw  Umber,  Burnt  Umber,  Sienna, 
Indian  Red  and  Red  Lead  or  Orange  Mineral 
will  dry  hard  and  brittle,  with  the  ultimate 
danger  of  falling  off  the  canvass.  Then  again, 
the  pigments  I have  just  mentioned,  like  Lamp 
Black,  and  which  take  years  to  harden,  will 
crack  any  hard  drying  pigment  which  is  placed 
over  them,  because  in  drying,  the  slow  drying 
colors  wrinkle  and  contract,  and  a hard  drying 
color  placed  over  them,  not  having  sufficient 
elasticity  will  be  torn  asunder,  and  a small  crack, 
which  may  widen  into  a fissure,  will  take  place. 
The  whole  idea  of  permanent  painting,  then. 


[78] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


simmers  itself  down  to  one  of  sense  and  judg- 
ment. No  one  has  ever)  seen  a Water  Color 
painting  which  is  cracked.  This  is  due  entirely 
to  the  fact  that  the  pigment  is  so  thin  that 
it  cannot  crack.  Linseed  Oil,  when  exposed  to 
the  air  for  several  years,  changes  into  what 
is  known  as  fat  oil.  This  is  a thick,  ropey,  pale 
material  of  the  consistency  of  honey,  and 
when  used  too  freely  dries  with  a film  similar 
to  that  of  a withered  apple.  Placed  in  a warm 
place,  instead  of  baking,  it  shrivels  up  and 
wrinkles. 

Blakelock  and  Ryder  poured  thick  coats  of 
varnish  over  their  pictures  when  the  paint  was 
insufficiently  dry,  with  the  result  that  many  of 
their  paintings  to-day  show  cracks  and  fis- 
sures, due  to  this  practice.  Blakelock  used  a 
very  heavy-bodied  Linseed  Oil,  which  was  so 
viscous  that  it  flowed  down  in  many  places  and 
formed  “ curtains,”  and  teardrops. 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


Blakelock  painted  with  fat  oil,  and  many  of 
his  pictures  show  this  wrinkling  effect,  and  as 
no  varnish  is  added  to  fat  oil,  the  chances  are  it 
will  remain  absolutely  permanent,  if  used  thinly 
or  sparingly. 


[80] 


MADDER  LAKE  AND  HARRISON  RED 


Both  of  these  colors  are  aniline  colors 
and  therefore  artificial.  There  is  some 
Madder  Lake  on  the  market  which  is 
made  from  the  Madder  Root  but  it  does  not 
differ  from  the  artificial  in  the  slightest  degree 
and  both  the  natural  and  the  artificial  are  abso- 
lutely permanent  under  normal  conditions. 
The  artificial  is  sometimes  sold  under  the  name 
alizarine. 

Madder  Lake  is  transparent  when  used  as  a 
glaze  and  it  can  be  mixed  with  a number  of  pig- 
ments with  which  it  does  not  interact,  but  it 
must  not  be  mixed  with  the  iron  pigments  that 
contain  water,  and  these  are  principally  all  the 
Ochres  and  Siennas,  but  as  a glaze  it  may  go 
over  any  color  without  being  decomposed.  It 
has  a record  for  permanency  of  several  hundred 


[8i] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


years  and  is  at  least  of  essential  importance  in 
portrait  painting. 

Harrison  Red  is  rather  a complex  aniline 
color,  exceedingly  brilliant,  but  it  has  some  de- 
fects which  the  painter  should  know.  In  the 
first  place  it  bleeds  very  slightly,  that  is  to  say, 
if  Zinc  White  or  Flake  White  is  painted  over 
pure  Harrison  Red,  the  Zinc  or  Flake  will  turn 
a pinkish  brown,  which  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  linseed  oil,  or  other  drying  oil  will  ab- 
sorb part  of  the  dye  out  of  Harrison  Red.  The 
painter,  therefore,  in  using  Hrarison  Red  must 
be  careful  of  this  defect.  Harrison  Red  must 
not  be  mixed  with  an  iron  color  like  Ochre,  Si- 
enna, or  Raw  Umber,  otherwise  its  brilliancy 
is  slightly  marred.  It  is  similar  in  many  res- 
pects to  Deep  Vermilion,  excepting  that  it  is 
many  times  stronger  than  Vermilion.  It  can 
be  reduced  with  Permanent  White  (Blanc  Fixe) 
without  materially  lessening  its  brilliancy. 


[82] 


LAKES  TO  BE  AVOIDED 


IT  seems  a great  pity  that  colors  like  Car- 
mine, Scarlet  Lake,  Geraninum  Lake,  and 
dozens  of  other  brilliant  lakes  of  that 
type,  should  be  sold  to  painters.  The  three  that 
I have  mentioned  will  disappear  when  exposed 
to  the  summer  sunlight  for  three  or  four 
months,  and  the  painter  who  says  he  cannot 
get  along  without  Carmine  is  simply  painting 
for  the  present  and  losing  sight  of  the  future. 

In  closing  this  chapter  I must  express  the 
thought  that  the  time  is  not  far  off  when  every 
tube  color  will  be  labelled  as  to  its  composition 
and  as  to  its  permanency  fon  without  such  a 
guide,  the  painter  is  liable  to  make  serious 
failures. 


[83] 


PAINTING  THE  NEXT  DAY 

Many  painters  find  that  in  taking  up 
partly  painted  canvases  and  attemp- 
ting to  continue  their  work,  that 
fresh  paint  does  not  adhere  to  the  paint  recently 
applied.  This  defect  is  well  recognized  among 
house  painters  and  piano  and  cabinet  varnishers, 
and  therefore  it  becomes  necessary  to  roughen 
the  surface,  so  that  the  new  coat  of  paint  will 
adhere.  There  are  some  mediums  on  the  mar- 
ket for  this  purpose,  but  with  a little  care  no  me- 
dium is  needed  other  than  pure  water3  and  I 
have  heard  the  statement  that  by  rubbing  the 
surface  of  a painting  with  a stiff  brush  that  has 
been  dipped  in  water  and  allowing  that  surface 
to  dry  thoroughly,  new  paint  will  take  over  the 
old  as  if  by  magic.  There  is  no  magic  in  it 
whatever.  All  that  happens  is  that  there  is  so 
much  dust  and  foreign  matter  in  the  air  that  it 


[84] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 

settles  on  every  surface  to  a considerable  ex- 
tent within  twenty-four  hours.  When  this  is 
mixed  with  water,  the  dust  acts  as  an  abrasive, 
and  consequently  the  surface  is  scarified  mi- 
nutely and  the  pigment  takes  hold.  The  only 
care  necessary  to  exercise  is  that  when  using 
plain  water  on  any  painting  sufficient  time  must 
be  given  so  that  it  dries  out  thoroughly,  before 
new  paint  is  applied. 


[85] 


TRUE  NAPLES  YELLOW 

Many  Artists  feel  that  they  get  results 
with  True  Naples  Yellow  that  they 
cannot  get  with  anything  else. 
There  are  a variety  of  shades  of  Naples  Yellow 
on  the  market,  running  from  a pale  straw  color 
to  rather  a deep  Ochre  j but,  the  True  Naples 
Yellow,  such  as  Rembrandt  used  on  the  cloak 
in  the  painting  of  Homer,  now  hanging  in  the 
Mauritzhuis,  has  all  the  freshness  to-day  that  it 
evidently  had  when  it  was  painted.  The  dark 
outlines  of  this  cloak  are  painted  with  Ochre, 
which,  of  course,  is  a permanent  color. 

I could  cite  many  examples  of  prominent 
palmers  who  felt  that  Naples  Yellow  was  es- 
sential to  their  palette.  Their  is  a picture  in  the 
Frick  Collection  by  Turner  — a view  of  the 
harbor  of  Dieppe  j a full  sun  is  standing  high  in 
the  skies.  The  upper  half  of  the  sun  painted 


[86] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


with  light  Naples  Yellow  has  been  smoothed 
out  with  a steel  knife,  and  this  particular  part  is 
Gray,  whereas  the  lower  half  is  a light  yellow- 
ish White,  where  it  evidently  had  not  been 
touched  by  the  knife. 

Naples  Yellow  imitation,  which  is  made  by 
mixing  Litharge,  pale  Cadmium  and  White, 
also  shows  a black  or  very  dark  streak  when 
touched  with  a steel  knife.  It  is,  therefore, 
best  to  avoid  any  steel  coming  in  contact  with 
this  pigment. 

By  itself,  genuine  Naples  Yellow  is  exceed- 
ingly permanent  to  light,  and  when  used  alone 
and  varnished,  is  not  aflFected  by  gases  of  any 
kind.  As  evidence  of  this,  it  is  practically  un- 
changed in  all  old  paintings,  with  the  exception 
of,  perhaps,  the  Seventeenth  Century  pictures, 
and  older  productions  show  a slight  deepening, 
which  may  have  been  caused  by  the  action  of 
gases  where  the  pigment  was  unprotected.  In 


[87] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


Constable’s  pictures  of  his  later  periods,  he  evi- 
dently used  Naples  Yellow  unmixed,  and  ap- 
parently put  it  on  with  the  aid  of  a knife.  These 
pictures  of  Constable’s  only  show  a very  slight 
deepening. 


[88] 


NEW  WHITES 

WITHIN  the  past  year  White  Pig- 
ments have  made  their  appearance 
upon  the  market  which  bid  fair  to 
replace  both  Zinc  and  Lead  Whites.  All  these 
new  whites,  which  appear  to  be  precipitated 
mixtures  of  Permanent  White  (Blanc  Fixe) 
and  Titanium,*  have  nearly  double  the  hiding 
power  of  Flake  White,  but  what  is  of  greater 
importance  is  that  they  are  not  affected  by  any 
ordinary  chemicals  and  gases  and  are  light- 
proof and  sulphur-proof. 

From  the  experiments  made  by  the  author 
it  would  appear  that  a White  of  this  nature  is 
absolutely  safe  to  use,  can  be  mixed  with  any 
other  pigment  without  interaction,  and  while 
it  dries  slowly  it  does  not  dry  with  the  brittle- 
ness of  Zinc  although  when  Zinc  White  is  mixed 

* Sold  under  the  name  of  Permalba,  Toxitan,  etc. 


[89] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 

with  a heavy  bodied  Linseed  Oil  it  does  not 
become  brittle. 

Another  new  White  is  Lithopone,  which  is  a 
Zinc  Barium  compound  that  was  discovered 
about  twenty-five  years  ago.  When  this  white 
was  first  exploited  prophecies  were  made  that 
it  would  soon  replace  Flake  White,  White  Lead, 
and  Zinc  White,  and  that  it  was  the  most  re- 
markable White  that  could  possibly  be  made. 
As  a matter  of  fact  it  has  never  replaced  any- 
thing because  it  has  a pernicious  habit  of  turning 
dark  in  the  bright  sunlight  and  turning  white 
again  in  the  dark,  but  within  the  last  few 
years  light-proof  Lithopone  has  been  manufac- 
tured and  its  principal  use  is  for  foundation 
whites  and  for  interior  flat  wall  decoration.  It 
is  a pigment  that  should  never  be  used  for 
landscape  or  portrait  painting  but  may  very 
safely  be  used  for  ground  work. 


AMBER  VARNISH 

Many  painters  believe  that,  owing  to 
the  fact  that  Amber  is  the  hardest 
resin  there  is,  the  varnish  made 
from  it  should  retain  its  gloss  the  longest,  and 
be  just  as  free  from  cracking  and  bloom  as  the 
natural  resin  itself. 

An  examination  of  several  of  the  amber  var- 
nishes on  the  market  reveals  the  fact  that  there 
probably  is  no  such  varnish  made.  Although 
Amber  can  be  fused  and  melted,  it  takes  such  a 
high  heat  that  even  the  lightest  gum  Amber 
becomes  exceedingly  dark  and  then  it  must  be 
diluted  with  so  much  oil  that  there  is  very  little 
gum  Amber  in  the  varnish  itself.  Most  of  the 
Amber  Varnishes  on  the  market  are  Copal  Var- 
nishes that  contain  little  or  no  Amber  at  all. 

It  is  very  wise  for  the  painter  to  keep  away 
from  materials  of  this  typej  and,  if  a hard  dry- 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


ing  varnish  is  desired,  any  good  Copal  Varnish 
will  answer  the  purpose,  although  for  varnishing 
pictures,  it  must  be  continually  borne  in  mind 
that  a simple  varnish  like  Damar,  Mastic  or 
Sandarac  should  be  usedj  for  only  those  simple 
varnishes  can  be  easily  removed  without  de- 
stroying the  painting  itself. 


[9^] 


BLOOM 

IT  is  not  the  intention  of  the  author  to  go 
into  any  dissertation  of  the  cause  of 
bloom  j for  every  varnish  blooms  more  or 
less.  In  fact,  all  polished  surfaces,  whether 
they  are  varnished  or  not,  show  condensation, 
and  surface  deposits  which  are  the  equivalent  of 
bloom. 

Take  for  example,  a mirror  in  your  homej 
or  a window  glass  j or  a varnished  piece  of  fur- 
niture. Unless  these  are  continually  wiped 
clean  they  will  show  a surface  deposit,  which  is 
one  type  of  bloom. 

In  paintings,  bloom  is  the  result  of  a variety 
of  causes.  Sometimes  it  is  due  to  moisture 
which  deposits.  At  other  times  it  is  due  to  the 
action  of  sulphur  gases  on  the  chemical  com- 
pounds in  varnish}  and  one  of  the  most  general 
causes  is  a surface  deposit  to  which  dust 


[93] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


and  foreign  matter  adheres.  Some  varnishes, 
like  Mastic,  bloom  notoriously^  and,  if  Mastic 
is  to  be  used,  it  always  should  be  mixed  with  ten 
per  cent,  of  Spike  Oil  and  five  per  cent,  of 
hea\^  bodied  Linseed  Oil.  This,  in  a large 
measure,  prevents  the  flatting  and  blooming  of 
Mastic  Varnish. 

Damar  Varnish,  at  times,  shows  the  same 
defect,  but  not  to  such  a great  extent  as  Mastic, 
and  Sandarac,  the  latter  being  an  alcohol  soluble 
varnish,  which  shows  it  least  of  all,  has  the 
defect  of  cracking  very  readily,  particularly  a 
year  after  it  is  applied. 

Bloom  can  be  removed  in  many  ways: 
First,  by  gently  rubbing  with  a silk;  handker- 
chief, which  removes  the  surface  deposit  and 
polishes  the  underlying  film  of  varnish} 
second,  by  taking  heavy  bodied  Linseed  Oil, 
diluting  with  half  Turpentine,  and  applying 
that  with  gentle  rubbing,  which  at  once  polishes 


[94] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


the  surface  and  removes  superficial  adherent 
bodies;  third , by  the  use  of  any  good,  thin 
machine  oil,  such  as  is  sold  in  this  country  under 
the  name  of  “ 3 In  i.”  A few  drops  of  this  may 
be  applied  on  a linen  handkerchief  and  gently 
rubbed,  but  then  it  must  be  wiped  completely 
clean,  because  it  is  a non-drying  oil,  and  dust 
and  dirt  stick  to  it  with  greater  ease  than  they 
do  to  a drying  oil. 

Bloom  also  occurs  in  damp  atmospheres,  even 
on  a painting  which  is  not  varnished.  This  is 
due  to  a certain  physical  — chemical  cause,  in 
which  even  dried  Linseed  Oil  will  absorb  a 
certain  amount  of  moisture.  To  overcome  this, 
the  painting  should  be  placed  in  the  warm  sun, 
wiped  clean,  and  then  revarnished  with  a very 
thin  varnish  of  either  Mastic  or  Damar. 


[95] 


REPAINTING 


Many  painters  and  restorers  are  un- 
certain as  to  what  materials  to  use 
for  retouching  and  repainting. 
Some  use  Tempera  colors^  and,  after  they  are 
dry,  they  varnish  the  entire  picture,  and  the  re- 
sults are  usually  very  good.  With  this  excep- 
tion, the  Tempera  colors  do  not  change,  whereas 
the  surrounding  oil  painting  yellows  and 
darkens  in  undue  proportion  to  the  new  color 
applied. 

T he  best  method  to  pursue  is  to  use  dry  pig- 
ments, which  should  be  rubbed,  or  mulled  on 
a glass  plate  with  a muller,  and  mixed  with 
dilute  Damar  Varnish.  The  chances  are  that 
a mixture  of  this  type  will  dry  in  fifteen  or 
twenty  minutes,  and  the  color  can  be  matched 
up  with  the  surrounding  painting  very  exactly. 


[96] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


In  filling  up  cracks,  flakes  and  holes  in  paint- 
ings, this  method  is  really  the  best,  because  it 
insures  matching,  quick  drying  and  very  little 
decomposition. 


RESTORATION  AND  CLEANING  OF 
PAINTINGS 

The  greatest  possible  care  in  the  selec- 
tion of  a cleansing  material  must  be 
exercised,  and  it  is  always  wise  to  take 
the  painting  out  of  the  frame  and  try  the  effects 
of  various  mediums  in  one  corner,  in  order  to 
determine  whether  it  is  safe  to  clean  the  paint- 
ing or  not. 

The  first  requisite  is  to  wipe  off  the  painting 
with  a rag  that  has  been  soaked  in  boiling  water 
and  then  wrung  out,  in  order  to  remove  super- 
ficial adherent  dust  and  dirt.  If  the  painting 
is  cracked,  it  is  necessary  to  be  exceedingly  care- 
ful not  to  let  any  moisture  get  through  the 
cracks,  for  it  might  soften  up  the  glue  under- 
neath, in  which  case,  large  flakes  may  possibly 
curl  from  the  canvas.  After  having  cleansed 
the  surface  with  water  or,  if  necessary,  with 


[98] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


any  good  neutral  soap  water,  such  as  Ivory 
Soap,  Fairy  Soapj  or,  better  still,  any  shaving 
soap,  an  experiment  should  be  made  in  a 
corner  of  the  painting,  to  see  if  it  has  been 
executed  with  a drying  oil,  like  Linseed  Oil, 
or  Poppy  Oil. 

The  great  danger  in  the  cleaning  of  paint- 
ings lies  in  the  fact  that  if  a painter  has  used 
varnish  as  a medium  mixed  with  his  tube  colors, 
nearly  all  solvents  will  attack  such  a painting, 
and  the  greatest  trouble  will  result,  because  the 
paint  itself  will  come  off  the  surface.  So,  after 
having  established  — let  us  say,  for  instance  — 
that  the  painting  is  a Linseed  Oil  painting,  the 
following  methods  are  perfectly  safe: 

Mixtures  of  equal  parts  of  No.  i Denatured 
Alcohol,  Turpentine  and  Water,  thoroughly 
shaken  up,  may  now  be  applied  with  a very 
stiff  bristle  brush.  This  will  remove  the  var- 
nish without  disturbing  the  film  underneath. 


[99] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


Another  good  method  to  use  is  to  take  a soft 
tooth  brush,  dip  it  in  Turpentine  and  gently  rub 
the  surface}  and,  if  the  varnish  is  of  the  single 
solvent  type,  like  Mastic  or  Damar,  it  will  come 
off  perfectly  clean  without  dissolving  the  Lin- 
oxin  (dry  Linseed  Oil  film). 

The  latest  method  is  the  use  of  Isopropyl 
alcohol,  known  commercially  as  Petrohol,  which 
will  dissolve  most  of  the  varnishes  without 
dissolving  the  dry  Linseed  Oil  film.  Isopropyl 
alcohol  can  be  diluted  with  Turpentine,  Ben- 
zine or  Kerosene,  and  when  so  diluted,  can  be 
copiously  used. 

The  other  method  to  be  recommended  is  the 
use  of  a material  called  Cumene,  or  Cumol, 
which  has  the  great  advantage  of  dissolving 
varnishes  without  dissolving  the  Linoxin,  pro- 
vided, of  course,  it  is  used  with  a little  common 
sense.  It  must  be  understood  that  the  surface 
of  the  painting  is  a very  delicate  film,  and  in 


[ 100  1 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


the  restoration  of  a painting  all  that  is  necessary 
is  to  dissolve  the  superficial  layer  of  old  yel- 
lowed varnish  and  adherent  dirt,  and  nothing 
else. 

The  author  has  made  a series  of  modifications 
of  Cumene,  such  as  one  third  Cumene,  one  third 
Kerosene  and  one  third  Denatured  Alcohol, 
which  has  the  advantage  of  slowing  down  the 
action  to  such  an  extent  that  in  case  there  is 
the  slighest  indication  of  decompositon  of  the 
painting  itself,  the  solvent  can  be  wiped  oflF  with 
a dry  cloth  or  a cloth  soaked  in  Kerosene,  and 
the  dissolving  action  will  be  stopped  imme- 
diately. 

The  foregoing  description  is  just  the  intro- 
duction to  the  various  methods  employed,  and 
is  not  intended  for  novices  or  those  unskilled 
in  the  art.  At  all  events,  great  care  must  be 
exercised. 

The  author  superintended  the  cleansing  and 


[ loi  ] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 

restoration  of  fifteen  paintings,  some  of  them 
very  large  in  size,  which  had  not  been  cleaned 
or  restored  in  many  years,  and  some  of  these 
were  in  shockingly  bad  conditon. 

The  Isopropyl  Alcohol  and  Turpentine 
methods  were  employed  without  the  slightest 
defect,  and  the  varnish  in  every  case  came  off 
perfectly  clean,  and  when  the  pictures  were 
revarnished,  they  were  restored  to  their  pris- 
tine condition.  If  it  is  desirable  to  give  the 
picture  a patine  of  age  after  it  has  been  reno- 
vated, it  is  not  a very  difficult  thing  to  do,  if 
a slight  tinge  of  a permanent  Brown  or  Yellow 
Lake  is  added  to  the  varnish  j but,  under  no 
circumstances,  must  any  bituminous  or  asphaltic 
compound  be  used  for  this  purpose. 


[ 102  ] 


FRAMING 


OUR  tastes  change  with  our  culture. 

After  the  Civil  War,  when  the  first 
large  crop  of  millionaires  was  made, 
all  ornamentation,  whether  in  picture  frames, 
furniture  or  wall  decorations,  assumed  a garish 
and  bizarre  effect.  Gold  and  brilliant  colors 
were  used  liberally,  and  to  this  day,  many  pic- 
tures are  so  badly  framed  that  the  effect  of  the 
picture  itself  is  lost. 

Many  painters  have  only  one  exhibtion 
frame,  in  which  they  show  their  paintings  to 
prospective  buyers  and  others,  and  some  paint- 
ers will  not  sell  a painting  without  a frame, 
believing  that  they  know  best  the  kind  of  a 
frame  best  suited  for  the  painting.  We  are 
rapidly  changing  our  views  on  this  subject, 
fortunately,  and  we  are  going  back  to  what  the 
Dutch  and  Flemish  did  three  centuries  ago,  of 


[ 103  ] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


having  dark  frames  with  a little  gold  or  silver 
insert.  It  must  be  obvious  to  everyone  that  a 
somber  painting  in  a six  or  eight  inch  glaringly 
brilliant  yellow  gold  frame,  destroys  the  value 
of  the  painting,  for  the  eye,  at  all  times,  lights 
on  the  brilliant  frame  first. 

The  best  example  of  this  is  the  method  in 
which  etchings  are  framed.  You  seldom  see 
an  etching  in  anything  but  a half  or  three 
quarter  inch  flat,  dark  frame.  If  an  etching 
were  placed  in  a three  inch  gold  frame,  both 
would  be  out  of  place.  Frames  should  always 
be  subordinated  to  the  painting.  A blue  and 
white  seascape  should  be  framed  in  a bluish 
gray  frame,  which  may  have  a dark  bronze 
moulding  on  the  outer  and  inner  edge.  If 
painters  want  only  one  frame  to  show  their 
work,  let  that  one  frame  be  of  somber  huej 
otherwise  it  will  detract  from  the  painting. 

Proper  framing  is  really  a scientific  study. 


[ 104  ] 


HOW  TO  PAINT  PERMANENT  PICTURES 


If  the  general  tone  of  a picture  be  yellow,  like 
a golden  sunset,  the  complementary  color  would 
be  a bluish  green,  and  therefore  a bluish  green, 
with  some  gray  in  it,  offset  by  a narrow  metal 
colored  moulding,  would  be  the  proper  frame 
for  a painting  of  that  kind.  Nothing  is  so 
hideous  as  brilliant  gold  on  all  the  paintings  in 
a room,  and  many  a museum  is  spoiled  through 
the  glossy,  inharmonious  effects  of  the  conglom- 
erate masses  of  frames,  which  detract  from  the 
color  value  of  a painting.  A little  care  and 
study  on  this  subject  will  frequently  enhance 
the  work  in  question. 


[ 105  1 


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How  to  paint  permanent  pictures  / 


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